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Aerobic Exercise as add-on Treatment for Inpatients With Depression

Aerobic Exercise as add-on Treatment for Inpatients With Depression: Effects and Biomarkers

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02679053
Enrollment
49
Registered
2016-02-10
Start date
2013-10-31
Completion date
2017-03-31
Last updated
2017-04-11

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Depression

Brief summary

The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of 6 weeks of aerobic endurance exercise as adon treatment for moderately to severely depressed inpatients. Endpoints are symptom severity, psychological variables, cognitive symptoms, sleep, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA-axis), Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and heartrate variability (HRV). Amendment 1 (Nov. 2016): additional evaluation of TNF-alpha at baseline, +2 weeks and post (+6weeks) in already existing blood samples.

Detailed description

Patients are randomly assigned to the intervention group (IG) or control group (CG). The IG will train three times per week on indoor bicycles at 60 to 75% of maximal heartrate aiming at a weekly total of 17.5kcal/kg bodyweight for 6 consecutive weeks. The exercise will take place under supervision. CG will absolve a basic stretching and mobilisation program 3 times per week, also under supervision for 6 consecutive weeks. At the end of every week physical fitness is evaluated by the queens step test. No other activities with moderate or high intensity are allowed throughout the intervention time. All patients will participate in the multimodal treatment program of the depression ward, which includes pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy and specialized therapies such as art therapy and ergotherapy.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALAerobic exercise
BEHAVIORALPlacebo control

Sponsors

Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel
CollaboratorOTHER
University of Basel
CollaboratorOTHER
Solothurner Spitäler AG
CollaboratorUNKNOWN
University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 60 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Inpatient treatment on the Depression ward * International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10: F32, F33 or F31 * HDRS-17\>16 Points * written informed consent

Exclusion criteria

* Any physical condition that prohibits endurance exercise * 3 or more cardiovascular risk factors (hypertonia, family history, smoking, hypertriglyceridemia, diabetes) * pathological ECG * BMI \> 35 kg/m2 * Pregnancy * acute suicidal Ideation * comorbid substance dependence (except nicotine) * Major comorbid psychiatric disorder * regular high intensity exercise prior to treatment

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Depressive Symptoms self ratedBaseline (pre), 1 week, 2 weeks, 6 weeks (post), 6 months (followup)Change in Score of Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-17) from baseline until 6 months follow-up
Depressive Symptoms physician ratedBaseline (pre), 1 week, 2 weeks, 6 weeks (post), 6 months (follow-up)Change in Score of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) from baseline until 6 months follow-up

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Sleep (Subjective sleep Quality)Baseline (pre), 6 weeks (post), 6 months (followup)Change of Score of Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) from baseline until follow-up
Sleep (Polysomnography)Baseline (pre), 6 weeks (post)Change in sleep stages between baseline and follow-up
CognitionBaseline (pre), 6 weeks (post), 6 months (followup)Change in performance in Executive functions (alertness, working memory, flexibility, go/nogo, divided attention) measured by Testbatterie zur Aufmerksamkeitsprüfung (TAP)
Social stress - cortisolBaseline (pre), 6 weeks (post)Change of Salivary cortisol-course (Area under the curve) during Trier Social Stress Test (TSST)
Social stress - heartrateBaseline (pre), 6 weeks (post)Change of heartrate-course during Trier Social Stress Test (TSST)
Psychological symptomsBaseline (pre), 6 weeks (post), 6 months (follow-up)Change of scores in Symptom Checklist (SCL-90R) from baseline until follow-up
Cortisol awakening response (CAR)Baseline (pre), 2 weeks, 6 weeks (post), 6 months (follow-up)Change of Salivary cortisol increase (Area under the curve, measured at awakening, +10, +20 and +30 minutes) from baseline until 6 months follow-up
Physical activityBaseline (pre), 6 months (follow-up)Change of weekly physical activity as self reported by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Short Version (IPAQ-short)
Sleep related personality traitsBaseline (pre), 6 weeks (post), 6 months (followup)Change in Focussing and Rumination subscores of the Fragebogen zur Erfassung von Persönlichkeitsmerkmalen Schlafgestörter (FEPS II)
Body Mass Index (BMI)Baseline (pre), 6 weeks (post), 6 months (followup)Change(BMI)
Resting Heartrate (HR)Baseline (pre), 6 weeks (post), 6 months (followup)Change of HR
Blood Pressure (BP)Baseline (pre), 6 weeks (post), 6 months (followup)Change of BP
TNF-Alpha (additional value assessed/Amendment 1)Baseline (pre), 2 weeks (post), 6 weeks (post)Change of TNF-alpha
Mental ToughnessBaseline (pre), 6 weeks (post), 6 months (followup)Change in score in Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ18)from baseline until follow-up
Brain derived neurotrophic factor (Serum-BDNF)Baseline (pre), 2 weeks, 6 weeks (post), 6 months (followup)Change of Serum-BDNF

Countries

Switzerland

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 21, 2026